Michael Reinert Karen Reinert Last Seen: June 22nd 1979 I have read about this case over the years and my goodness, it is a very scary and really dark case. Some of these missing persons cases from way back in the day really just want to make you cry and this is one of those cases. Before I start, their has been a lot written about the Reinert kids murder and both children were declared legally dead back in the 80s. So really this case is more about giving the family closure and helping to find the human remains of the children. Both children do have find a graves which will be attached with this article. Though the disappearances occurred in 1979, the precuser to the disappearance actually started 5 years prior. In 1974, Susan Reinert who was the children’s mother, started a relationship with a man named William Bradfield. At the time, both Susan and William were educators at Upper Merion High School in Ardmore PA, which is right outside of Philadelphia. Susan at the time was married an Air Force man Kenneth Wayne Reinert Sr. As the years go by, the relationship between William and Susan grew stronger, to the point that Susan was giving William lots of money, she put him as the sole beneficiary in her will and she wanted to marry him. But what she did not know was that William had other..unpleasent plans instead of marrying her. On June 22nd 1979, Susan, Michael and Karen left the house in a Plymouth Horizon presumably to go see William. This would be the last time, anyone would see the three alive. Just 3 days later, Susan was found naked, beaten and bound and in the trunk of her own car and yes she was dead from a morphine injection. But the kids were nowhere to be seen. This is where the story gets wild. In 1981, William was arrested for misappropriating funds Susans money and given a 2 year sentence. When he got out of jail, he was again arrested this time for conspiracy to commit murder for Susan, Michael and Karen and he would be convicted and locked up for life without the possibility. But the story doesn’t end here. Because police also arrested another person in this already sad case In late 70s, the principle of Upper Merion High School was a man by the name of Jay Smith, a decorated US Army Vet. In the year prior to the childrens disappearance, William started telling collegues and even some fellow students of his, that he was planning to kill Susan and that Smith was going to help him do it. This was played to the grand jury, when Smith was arrested later, and it was also found that William again, used his mouth a little too much when speaking to an inmate. Because it was said that William told fellow inmates that he saw the children die and that Smith was the one who killed Susan and the children. In 1985, Jay Smith was charged and convicted of Susan, Karen and Michaels murder and given the death penalty. However, his charges were overturned in 1992 due to Judicial misconduct and he was set free. He died in 2009 and was buried with full military honors, proclaiming to the end that he was innocent. What is interesting about Jay Smith, is that his daughter Stephanie Hunsberger is also missing along with her husband Eddie and they are listed in Namus. It is unknown whether Jay had anything to do with her disappearance. Lets go back to William, in 1992, he dies in prison and he declared his innocence to the end. The cops don’t buy it, and they believe that Smith did the dirty work while William tried to get the money and was in charge of everything. Interestingly enough after William died, a photo was found in his belongings, it is of a stone placed amongst some shrubs and it is thought that this stone is the spot of the childrens final resting place. Karen and Michael were both declared legally dead in 1987 and police have not been able to find their grave site. Sadly their father would also die in 2002, he did remarry but got into a divorce later on. Poor guy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7707739/karen-reinert https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7707755/michael_reinert https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8150150/susan_reinert https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/34827?nav https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_C._Smith https://charleyproject.org/case/karen-reinert Side note: I did leave out some key details just for the sake of not making the story too uncomfortable for some people. It’s a very sad case. Rest in peace Micheal, Karen and Susan Reinert, may you never be forgotten.

Kind of a heads up for anyone reading this, so Jay Smith, who is the prime suspect in their case, he also actually the prime suspect in his daughters disappearance from a year before the children went missing, so the Karen and Micheals case really runs together with the Stephanie and Eddie Hunsberger missing persons case sadly.